Adam Park Makes it to the Show
by PRWASeasonTwo
Summary: Power Rangers/baseball crossover. Spinoff of Rangers in the Outfield from Zeo. This details one Adam Park's journey to the big leagues.


A/N: I'm back, again. This time I've got a totally different sports story in mind, and one that almost NOBODY touches on. It's an extension of the Power Rangers: Zeo episode Rangers in the Outfield and one Adam Park's journey to "The Show." Though I am a sports fan, baseball is by far my favorite sport and it's been in my blood since birth so I'm disappointed that the few sports fans here on this site haven't touched on this. I am going to rectify that...right now.

A/N 2: Happy Easter to everyone. Remember that the most important thing about today is that Jesus was resurrected.

A/N 3: I own positively nothing. Power Rangers belongs to Saban and Disney, and all teams in the story belong to Major League Baseball.

Adam's Journey to the Bigs

As he stood in the home dugout of Network Associates Coliseum on Opening Day, preparing to actually start for the first time in the big leagues as the defending American League West Champions the Oakland Athletics were set to take on the Texas Rangers, feelings that he never thought he'd be able to describe were swirling through Adam Park.

It was his lifelong ambition, ever since his father had played Korean baseball many years before, was to make it to the major leagues. And he could safely say that he had earned his spot in the big leagues. And not only was he in the big leagues, he was Oakland's opening day starting second baseman, a job he had earned with a great spring as he hit .556 in the srping.

A three sport star at Angel Grove High School, Adam Park had been the most versatile man in the school - he'd been a valuable backup running back on the football team, he was a solid point guard for the basketball team, but where he really excelled - as could be expected, was on the baseball diamond.

When people first saw him on the field, people thought of him as a slow, white second baseman who wouldn't make the starting lineup for a major college or high school. But people had learned a long time ago, that you risked underestimating him at your own peril.

In his freshman year at Stone Canyon High, Adam made the varsity team and had taught Angel Grove's nine that lesson the hard way, as he went 8 for 18 agaisnt AG pictching that year, terrorized them on the bases with six stolen bags and made sparkling play after sparkling play at second.

When he was redistricted to Angel Grove his sophomore year, he continued tearing up the league and he did even worse things to Stone Canyon, as he hit two game winning homeruns against his former school that year including a walk-off grand slam on one occasion.

By the time he was done, although he'd played just three years for Angel Grove High, he'd shattered the previous records for hits, walks, batting average, stolen bases, doubles and triples and even ranked fifth on the all-time Angel Grove list in home runs.

Amazingly, very few colleges offered him coming out of high school - he was basically in the same position he was before. But one of the few schools that did offer him was an area school that was a college baseball powerhouse - Stanford, coached by Mark Marquess. Marquess had actually been to an Angel Grove/Stone Canyon game in Adam's senior year to see a Stone Canyon player when Adam caught his eye - it was a game where Adam had actually hit for the cycle, going five for five stealing two bags and driving in six runs by himself. Knowing that he was taking a chance on a guy that was lightly regarded, Marquess offered him a scholarship immediately and Adam took it. Besides, Stanford had always been a school he'd wanted to get into and Adam's academics were top notch.

Stanford fans howled over who their new second baseman was to be, and they'd howled over missing a certain prospect that Marquess had wanted. But Adam made an immediate impact as he terrorized Pac-10 pitching for four years as he hit .370 for his Stanford career and by the time he left he was the all time Stanford leader in hits, walks, runs batted in, and doubles and was second all time in stolen bases and home runs. His defense was also remarkable as he only made one single error in his four years, on a play that should have been scored a hit but was scored the other way.

In his four years at Stanford, the team went to the College World Series his last three years and although they lost in the finals his last two years, Adam had left a lasting impression at the school. He also was impressive in the classroom as the responsibility he'd developed while Rangering shone through - he ended up with a very high GPA in business administration and certainly had the abilities to start his own chain of dojos.

But Adam was born to play baseball and decided to enter in MLB's amateur draft. Adam went in well-aware that he might be passed over again, and sure enough, he wasn't selected until the 12th round by Oakland. But that suited him just fine, as he knew all of the things that were said about him before he got into high school and college were being said about him again. He was assigned to play for Oakland's Short A team, the Vancouver Canadians of the Northwest League for the 2002 season, but didn't stay in Vancouver very long as he continued picking up what he did at Stanford hitting .325 for that team.

After spending parts of that year in short A, A ball and advanced A ball and hitting a combined .320, he was assigned to the Midland Rockhounds of the Texas League at the beginning of 2003. Knowing that this was his opoortunity and maybe the bridging gap to getting close to the major league level, he stepped up his game even more in Midland where he hit .340 and his numbers were raised even more by the thin West Texas air as he hit 17 home runs and led the team in stolen bases by the end of May alone.

It got to the point where pitchers would just pitch around him if a base was open and they couldn't wait till he was promoted. By June they, and Adam, got their wish as he was promoted to Sacramento to play for the River Cats, Oakland's Triple A minor league affiliate. Now Adam was back in his home state and could see his dream unfolding before him. And though he got off to a slow start in Sacramento, he eventually got better as the season progressed. By the end of that year he hit .300 and reinforced the notion that he was a clutch player, hitting three walkoff home runs that year. It was also in Sacramento that he'd reunited with Tanya, who had been an extremely good college softball player for UCLA in her own right.

"Nervous?" veteran first baseman Eric Karros asked as the two prepared to take the field.

"Yeah a little, who wouldn't be nervous when this has been your lifelong dream?" Adam quipped. "But hey, no one expected me to be here, but here I am."

"You've defied the odds all your life," Oakland shortstop Bobby Crosby said as he slapped Adam on the back. "Those nerves will die, and you'll play great. Just remember what got you here. And remember, it's a long season."

Adam smiled at that, and before he knew it, it was time to take the field. What made Adam smile more than anything when he took the field was all of his friends and fellow Rangers who were there, and it wasn't just Tanya. Tommy and Kim (who had reunited in Reefside the day the Dino Thunder team defeated Mesogog) had traveled up to the Bay Area from Reefside, Rocky and Aisha were there as they lived in San Jose and Rocky owned a chain of dojos in the Bay Area, Billy and Kat had come from Sacramento and even Jason and Trini had come up from L.A. for the occasion. All of the Space team was there.

The only ones who said they couldn't make it were Zack, who owned a dance studio all the way down in San Diego, and Justin who was a freshman at UC-Santa Barbara, but they both gave Adam their best wishes.

While Adam didn't have the greatest of starts batting (he hit only 1 for 4) he made two big defensive plays at second, became an instant fan favorite and had the game winning sac-fly in the 8th as the A's beat the Rangers 5-4. As Adam began carrying his bags out to the car, he was greeted by every single one of his friends, who each gave their former fellow Ranger a huge hug - this was a huge accomplishment.

"You did it, man," Rocky said. "It was your lifelong dream. I've got just the place to celebrate."

"Trust me, everyone's gonna love this place," Aisha said. "Let's go, guys."

They all piled into three different cars and headed out to Rocky's favorite restaurant to celebrate Adam's biggest accomplishment in his life.


End file.
